ctorl e A Love Supreme
Part I
Acknowledgement
7:43
Part II
Resolution
7:20
Part III
Pursuance
10:42
Part IV
Psalm
7:05
Recorded December 9, 1964 at Van Gelder Recording Studion, Enclewood Cliffs, New Jersey Original-LP issue: A Love Supreme | Original recordings produced by Bob Thiele | Original recordings engineered by Rudy Van Gelder | Original-LP cover photograph by Bob Thiele | Original-LP cover design by George Gray/ Viceroy | Original-LP liner illustration by Victor Kalin Tracks are in their original-LP sequence. Master numbers show the order in which the tracks were recorded.
John Coltrane tenor saxophone |McCoy Tyner piano | Jimmy Garrison bass | Elvin Jones drums
A Love Supreme
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At the moment of conception every great human gesture took equal standing among the details and demands of daily life. While creating his most ageless canvases, Picasso stepped back and swept the studio. While developing their masterpieces, Beethoven paid the bills, James Joyce lit out for the bar, and Louis Armstrong took five and grabbed lunch.
For John Coltrane in 1964, inspiration coincided with dirty plates and diapers. As Alice Coltrane recalls, they had recently moved into a secluded house in Dix Hills, Long Island, and their first son had just been born.
It was late summer or early fall, because the weather was nice at the time in New York. There was an unoccupied area in the house where we hardly ever went; sometimes a family member would visit [and] would stay there. John would go up there, take little portions of food every now and then, spending his time pondering over the music he heard.
It was like Moses coming down from the mountain, it was so beautiful.
Alice remained busy with John Jr. and and MIchelle, her four-year-old by her first marriage. Eventually reappearing, Coltrane – normally deep in thought, preoccupied with musical matters – was unusually light hearted. It was like Moses coming down from the mountain, it was so beautiful. He walked so and there was that joy, that peace in his face, tranquility. So I said, “Tell me everything, we didn’t see you really for five days.” He said, “This is the first time that I have received all of the music for what I want to record, in a suite. This is the first time I have everything, everything ready.” Three months later, Coltrane took his four-part suite into the studio and called it A Love Supreme.
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A Love Supreme Today
Fo u r d e c a d e s o n , C o l t r a n e ’s best-known album rides an ever-ascending path of reverence and reach. To jazz cognoscenti, it is the pinnacle of Coltrane’s Classic Quartet, the collective high-water mark of the saxophonist in the company of pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones. To generations of music lovers whose general embrace elbows aside considerations of category, the album resonates with a universal pull. To Coltrane devotees, it proves as self-revealing a statement as any he records. “If you want to know who John Coltrane was,” maintains Elvin Jones, “You have to know A Love Supreme.” To the legions who heed the album’s spiritual call - and to those who respond to Coltrane’s confessional notes of redemption and praise - the album remains a seminal gift to God, “a humble offering to Him.” Years before rock stars honored swamis with recordings, decades before hip-hop CDs listed the obligatory
shout-out to the Almighty, Coltrane stepped apart from the hip jazz elite and effected a public spiritual disrobing. “I humbly asked to be given the means and privelege to make others happy through music,” he wrote, confirming his indebtedness. “I feel this has been granted through His grace.” As 1965 ended, the music industry and public spoke in unison. A Love Supreme was nominated for two Grammys (it would yield to winners Ramsey Lewis and Lalo Schifrin); Down Beat’s year-end readers’ poll picked Coltrane as tenor saxophone player of the year and inducted him into the magazine’s Hall of Fame. A Love Supreme was crowned album of the year. It was to be the last time during his life that Coltrane enjoyed such a unified
What he had already done often became obsolete the next day. That was the type of mentality he has....
front of support. The trajectory of the music that followed - the loose big-band charge of Ascension, the tenor-on-tenor fury of the live recordings with Pharoah Sanders, the final multirhythmic duets with drummer Rashied Ali on Interstellar Space - tested and eroded his universal appeal. From the piano bench in her husband’s group, Alice Coltrane watched as the crowds began to thin. When he bacame avant garde, he lost many people, many followers, [but] there was no way he could go back.... What he had already done often became obsolete the next day. That was the type of mentality he has.... From a Love Supreme onward, we were seeing a progression toward higher spiritual realization, higher spiritual development. Most enthusiasts agree that the album marks a departure point, a stark line dividing the music that came before and after. But to Coltrane, it was only another step in an ongoing journey. As a complete composition, he returned to it only once, performing it on July 26, 1965 at an outdoor jazz festival in Antibes, France. “I remember very definitely,” Bob Thiele once stated. “I said, ‘Which album do you really dig the most’ “Coltrane’s answer: “Well,
I like them all.... After I listen to one for a few weeks, I stop listening and forget about it.� Yet a vast, varied musical audience cannot. In sound, spirit, and name, whether embraced as pure musical performance, heartfelt prayer, or some subjective combination the two, A Love Supreme emits an arc of influence
A Love Supreme emits an arc of influence that remains unbroken.
that remains unbroken. Perhaps writer Nat Hentoff, who witnessed the arrival of the album, sums it best, extolling Coltrane’s most renowned work while returning it to its point of humble, mortal origin: By the time A Love Supreme hit, Trane struck such a spiritual chord in so many listeners that people started to think of him as being beyond human. I think that’s unfair. He was just a human being like you and me—but he was willing to practice more, to do all the things that somebody has to do to excel. The real value in what John Coltrane did was that what he accomplished, he did as a human. Ashley Kahn, June 2002
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I will do all I can to be worthy of Thee O Lord. It all has to do with it. Thank you God. Peace.
There is none other. God Is. It is so beautiful. Thank you God. God is all. Help us to resolve our fears and weaknesses. Thank you God.t In You all things are possible. We know. God made us so. Keep your eye on God. God is. He always was. He always will be. No matter what... it is God.
He is gracious and merciful. It is most important that I know Thee. Words, sounds, speech, men, memory, thoughts, fears and emotions - time - all related, all made from one, all made in one. Blessed be His name. Thought waves - heat waves - all vibrations - all paths lead to God. Thank you God. His way... it is so lovely... it is gracious. It is merciful - thank you God. One thought can produce millions of vibrations and they all go back to God... everything does. Thank you God. Have no fear... believe... thank you God. The universe has many wonders. God is all. His way... it is so wonderful. Thoughts - deeds - vibrations, etc.
They all go back to God and He cleanses all. He is gracious and merciful... thank you God. Glory to God... God is so alive. God is. God loves. May I be acceptable tin Thy sight. We are all one in His grace. The fact that we do exist is acknowledgement of Thee O Lord. Thank you God. God will wash away all our tears... He always has... He always will. Seek Him everyday. In all ways seek God everyday. Let us sing all songs to God To whom all praise is due... praise God.
With all we share God. It is all with God. It is all with Thee. Obey the Lord. Blessed is He. We are from one thing... the will of God... thank you God.
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No road is an easy one, but they all go back to God.
I have seen God - I have seen ungodly - non can be greater - none can compare to God. Thank you God. He will remake us... He always has and He always will. It is true - blessed be His name - thank you God.
God breathes through us so completely... so gently we hardly feel it... yet, it is our everything. Thanks you God. ELATION - ELEGANCE - EXALTATION - All from God. Thank you God. Amen
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The Story of A Love Supreme
John Coltrane recorded A Love Supreme in December of 1964 and released it the following year. He presented it as a spiritual declaration that his musical devotion was now intertwined with his faith in God. In many ways, the album mirrors Coltrane’s spiritual quest that grew out of his personal troubles, including a long struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. From the opening gong and tenor saxophone flutter, a four-note bass line builds under the sound. This simple riff becomes the musical framework for the rich improvisations that comprise John Coltrane’s 33-minute musical journey. I couldn’t wait to go to work at night. It was just such a wonderful experience. I mean, I didn’t know what we were going to do. We couldn’t really explain why things came together. -McCoy Tyner
“I remember they cut the lights down kind of,” says McCoy Tyner, who played piano on A Love Supreme as a member of Coltrane’s band in the early and mid-’60s. “The lights were dimmed in the studio. I guess they were trying to get a nightclub effect or whatever. I don’t know if it was John’s suggestion or whatever. I remember the lights being dimmed.” It made sense to try to imitate the dim-lighted intimacy of a club during the studio recordings, he says, because it was on stage during live shows where the quartet would explore, practice and rehearse new material. He says there was an amazing unspoken communication during the “Love Supreme” sessions. In fact, he says, Coltrane gave very few verbal directions. Tyner calls
John had a very wonderful way of being flexible with the music, flexing it, stretching it.
the album a culmination and natural extension of chemistry honed through years of playing together live. You see, one thing about that music is that it showed you that we had reached a level where you could move the music around. John had a very wonderful way of being flexible with the music, flexing it, stretching it. You know, we reflected that kind of thing. He gave us the freedom to do that. We thought of something, ‘Oh, then we’ll play it,’ you know? And he said, ‘Yeah, I have a feeling,’ you know? And all that freedom just came together when we did that record. It was that free-wheeling openness which allowed the musicians Coltrane, Tyner, along with drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Jimmy Garrison to build a complex four-part suite around a relatively basic musical idea. Lewis Porter heads the masters program in jazz history and research at Rutgers University-Newark. He’s the author of John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Porter says that simple idea culminating in the first movement with an unprecedented verbal chant by Coltrane forms the foundation of the entire suite. It’s a theme Coltrane consciously uses in subtle and careful
He’s introduced the idea. He’s experimented with it . . .. Now he’s saying it’s everywhere.
ways throughout A Love Supreme. For example, toward the end of part one, “Acknowledgement,” Coltrane plays the riff in every key. “Coltrane’s more or less finished his improvisation, and he just starts playing the ‘Love Supreme’ motif, but he changes the key another time, another time, another time. This is something very unusual. It’s not the way he usually improvises. It’s not really improvised. It’s something that he’s doing. And if you actually follow it through, he ends up playing this little ‘Love Supreme’ theme in all 12 possible keys,” says Porter. “To me, he’s giving you a message here. First of all, he’s introduced the idea. He’s experimented with it. He’s improvised with it with great intensity. Now he’s saying it’s everywhere. It’s in
Coltrane’s rapid stylistic evolution was not always admired as it is today.
all 12 keys. Anywhere you look, you’re going to find this ‘Love Supreme.’ He’s showing you that in a very conscious way on his saxophone. So to me, he’s really very carefully thought about how he wants to present the idea.” John Coltrane’s rapid stylistic evolution was not always admired as it is today: One critic called a 1961 performance “anti-jazz,” and the label stuck with his detractors. While A Love Supreme is a recognized musical masterpiece, it had enormous personal significance for Coltrane. In the spring of 1957, his dependence on heroin and alcohol lost him one of the best jobs in jazz. He was playing sax and touring with a popular group when he became unreliable and strung out. Alternately catatonic and brilliant, Coltrane’s behavior and playing became increasingly erratic. Davis fired him after a live show that April. Soon after, Coltrane resolved to clean up his act. He would later write, in the 1964 liner notes to A Love Supreme, “In the year of 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening, which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.”
But Coltrane didn’t always stay the clean course. As he also wrote in the album’s notes, “As time and events moved on, I entered into a phase which is contradictory to the pledge and away from the esteemed path. But thankfully now, through the merciful hand of God, I do perceive and have been fully reinformed of his omnipotence. It is truly a love supreme.”
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A Reaffirmation of Faith
Th e a l b u m i s , i n m a n y w a y s , a reaffirmation of faith. And the suite lays out what you might call its four phases: “Acknowledgement,” “Resolution,” “Pursuance” and “Psalms.” A Love Supreme has even spawned something of a religious sect. Reverend Franzo Wayne King is pastor of the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco. The congregation mixes African Orthodox liturgy with Coltrane’s quotes and a heavy dose of his music. Pastor King calls the album the cornerstone of his 200-member church. “When you look at the composition of titles and the sequence in which John has them laid out, we say that there’s formula in that album. When he says, ‘Acknowledgements, resolutions and pursuance,’ it’s like saying, ‘Father, Son and Holy Ghost.’ It’s like saying, ‘Melody, harmony and rhythm.’ In other words, you have to acknowledge and then you resolve and then you pursue, and the manifestation of it is a love supreme.”
He saw A Love Supreme as much more than just another recording.
While it’s unknown whether Coltrane would have wanted to be worshiped or have his art deified, it’s clear in every way that he saw A Love Supreme as much more than just another recording. Coltrane took control of every detail of the album, unlike any of his other works, including writing the liner notes and an accompanying poem. The poem, it’s been discovered, is written to match the slow music of the fourth movement, “Psalms.” It’s a connection Coltrane hints at cryptically in the liner notes. Pastor King remembers the day his congregation made the discovery. “It was so funny. We were here. We had been collected as a community, and we used to just read it and try to put some passion in it, you know. And
then one day, we were reading the album, because he said the last part is ‘Psalms,’ which is in context, written context. And we said, ‘Well, what is he trying to say here?’ And then we put it on and sang, ‘A love supreme. I would do all I can to be worthy of you, oh, Lord.’ It’s kind of like Pentecostal preaching, you know,” Pastor King says. “We had a great day. We woke up and found out that the music and the words went together, and that was like a further encouragement that John Coltrane was, indeed, you know, sent by God and that that sound had really jumped down from the throne of heaven, so to speak.” While Pastor King sees explicit Christian symbolism in A Love Supreme,
We couldn’t really explain why things came together so well, you know, and why it was, you know, meant to be.
others point out that Coltrane took a much more general view. Coltrane was careful to say that while he was raised Christian, his searchings had led him to realize that all religions had a piece of the truth. Only once did Coltrane perform the entire “Love Supreme” suite live, and there are no recorded interviews in which he talks about the album’s personal significance. In fact, Coltrane didn’t even talk about it with his band mates. “We didn’t talk about a lot of things,” says Tyner. But he does say the band knew that A Love Supreme had unique chemistry. “He told me, he says, ‘I respond to what’s around me,’” remembers Tyner. “That’s the way it should be, you know? And it was just I couldn’t wait to go to work at night. It was just such a wonderful experience. I mean, I didn’t know what we were going to do. We couldn’t really explain why things came together so well, you know, and why it was, you know, meant to be. I mean, it’s hard to explain things like that.” Eric Westervelt, All Things Considered NPR
A Love Supreme I will do all I can to be worthy of Thee O Lord. It all has to do with it. Thank you God. Peace. There is none other. God Is. It is so beautiful. Thank you God. God is all. Help us to resolve our fears and weaknesses. Thank you God. In You all things are possible. We know. God made us so. Keep your eye on God. God is. He always was. He always will be. No matter what... it is God. He is gracious and merciful. It is most important that I know Thee. Words, sounds, speech, men, memory, thoughts, fears and emotions - time - all related... all made from one... all made in one. Blessed be His name. Thought waves - heat waves - all vibration - all paths lead to God. Thank you God. His way... it is so lovely... it is gracious. It is merciful - Thank you God. One thought can produce millions of vibrations and they all go back to God... everything does. Thank you God. Have no fear... believe... Thank you God. The universe has many wonders. God is all. His way... it is so wonderful. Thoughts - deeds - vibrations, etc. They all go back to God and He cleanses all. He is gracious and merciful... Thank you God. Glory to God... God is so alive. God is. God loves. May I be acceptable tin Thy sight. We are all one in His grace. The fact that we do exist is acknowledgement of Thee O Lord. Thank you God. God will wash away all our tears... He always has... He always will. Seek Him everyday. In all ways seek God everyday. Let us sing all songs to God. To whom all praise is due... praise God. No road is an easy one, but they all go back to God. With all we share God. It is all with God. It is all with Thee. Obey the Lord. Blessed is He. We are from one thing... the will of God... Thank you God. I have seen God - I have seen ungodly - non can be greater - none can compare to God. Thank you God. He will remake us... He always has and He always will. It is true - blessed be His name - Thank you God. God breathes through us so completely... so gently we hardly feel it... yet, it is our everything. Thanks you God. ELATION - ELEGANCE - EXALTATION - All from God. Thank you God. Amen. John Coltrane - December, 1964.
Francis Wolff photographer of Trane headshots | Lee Friedlander photographer of Trane playing sax| Andrea Dimond book design
Recording Notes All previous digital incarnations of A Love Supreme have been derived from a 1971 second-generation master tape. While this tape did not suffer from the processing and alterations that noise reduction systems cause, it did add equalization and compression to the original recording and had an inexplicable flaw in the left channel during the first three minutes of “Pursuance.” The tape was not physically flawed, so it must be assumed that the problem was caused in the 1971 transfer process. This situation was a cause of great concern until it occurred to us that A Love Supreme was originally issued in 1965 in territories other than the United States. The hope was that we could find a contemporaneous copy of the original master that would not have had this affliction. A March 1965 master was found at EMI’s London vaults and dispatched to New York. Not only was the problem absent on that tape, but it had no added equalization or compression. A relieved Rudy Van Gelder declared it to be as close to the real thing as one could get in the analog domain without having the original tape: “This tape preserves the sonic details with vivid accuracy: Elvin’s cymbals, the deep intensity of the vocal chant, and openness of the group sound.”
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